Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to his oral contribution in response to the Urgent Question of 22 September 2022 on Shale Gas Extraction, Official Report, column 806, what the evidential basis is for his statement that some of the opposition to fracking has been funded by Mr Putin’s regime.

In response to the Urgent Question, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State said, “I am well aware that there have been objections to fracking, but I would also note that there have been stories, widely reported, that some of the opposition to fracking has been funded by Mr Putin’s regime.”

Various claims have been made regarding attempts by malicious actors to mispresent the operations and impact of shale gas, which have been widely reported.